Can-filling machine



July 2, 1929. Q AYARS 1.719.580

I CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 wmmsszs: Q INVENTOR:

Clmrlesflziyara,

ATTOkNE Y y 2, 1929- v c. H. AYARS 1.719.580

- I CAN FILLINGYMACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES: INVENTOR:

July 2, 1929. QHAYARS 1.719.580

CAN FILLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Q 6* Us I a q 6 L H A M y o q} Q9 9; Q 3; R

.f L m Q N Q QUQ WITNESSES.- INVENTOR:

T %QQW W C 7 ATTORNEY Jilly 2, 1929. c AYARS v 1.719.580-

' CAN FILLING MACHINE Fi led Feb. 12, 1927 4 Sheets-Shet 4 INVENTOR: harlesfljiyar p. A a. ATTORNEY A Patented July 2, 1929. h

. v "1,719,580. PAT E'NT OFFICE.

cHAnLEs H. AYARS, 0E SALEM, NEW-JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 'ro AYAR's MACHINE corr- P NY, 0F SALEM, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW J RSEY.

. CAN-Ermine MACHINE.

Application filed February 1 2, 1927. Serial No. 167,657.

My invention relates to canning machinery and more'particularly to a machine adapted to can whole fruits and vegetables.

It has been found very difficult to measure fruits and vegetables, which are to be canned whole, without either crushing the fruit or cutting pieces from them with the leveling devices. r

The principal object of my invention is to provide means for feeding whole fruits and vegetables into the cans in measured quantities andthe-machine is particularly adapted to the canning of whole tomatoes on account of the care with which this tender fruit must be handled. i

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine having a large capacity and so compactly built that it requires but little floor space.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a machine of this character having means for readily changing the capacity of the measuring units.

These objects, and'oth'er advantageous ends which will be described hereinafter, I attain in the following mannenreference being ha'd to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a' perspective view of a canning machine oil which my invention has been installed,

Figure 2 a 'top plan view, partly in section and taken substantially on line 22 on Figure 3, V

Figure 3 is a central sectional view taken on the radial lines 33 on Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a sectional view, showing how the agitating plates overlap one another, taken on the line 44 on Figure 2, and

Figure5 atop view, partly in section, taken on the line 55 on Figure 8, some of the part-sbeing broken away.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the machine has a main frame 6 on which is formed an auxiliary frame 7 supporting a bed plate 8 which is substantially circular in outline and disposed at an angle to the horizontal, as clearly shown in Figure 1. A shaft9 is suitably journaled in frame 7 and bed plate 8. hub'10 is slidably mounted on the upper end of shaft 9 and has arms 11 formed-integral therewith which terminate in a'circular conveyor plate'12 provided with a series of oval openings 13 from which slots l' extend radially inward'andslots 15 extend radially outward. An agitating plate 16 is disposed over each opening 13 and is provided with a downwardly extending circular flange 17 which forms t-heup-per half of a measuring cup, a stud 18 extending downwardly through slot 14, and a stud. 19, extending downwardly through slot 15, which is provided at its lower end with a roller '20. Circular flanged cups 21 rest on bed plate 8 and te-lscope with flanges 17, thus forming ad-' justable measuring units.

The upper end of shaft 9 is bored and threaded to receive a screw shaft 22 which is revolubly mount-ed ill'llllb 10 and held against axial movement by a collar 23 and a hand wheel 24:, disposed below and above the top wall of hub 10. By rotating hand wheel 24 in one direction, plate 12will beraised and the capacityof the measuring units increased while, if turned in the opposite direction, plate 12 will be lowered and the capacity of the measuring units decreased.

A'cam track 25 is. disposed near the outer edge of bed plate 8 and has its cam faces formed on the sides of a groove 25 into which roller 20 depends. Cam I track 25 extends fromthe lowest point on bed plate 8 to a little more than halfway to the highest point.

- A sleeve'26 is mounted on and supported by. hub 10, whichis rotatable therein, andv is pro Vid'ed with arms 27 which support a hopper base 28 disposed above agitatingplates 16. A hopper 29 secured in the hopper base and has a discharge opening slightly wider than the length of openings 13. The hopper has an upwardly inclined and open-ended extension 29, disposed above'the path of travel of the filled cups, and the hopper plate has an upwardly extending curvilinear flange 28 which extends around the path of travel of the filled measuring cups from the lowest to the uppermost, extends above thetops of the cups, embraces the end walls of the: hopper extension, and serves to guide any fruit, which may roll from the'tops of the cups, into the open end of the hopper extension, the inclination of the conveyor plate being suflicient to cause the surplus 'fruit toroll downwardly. i

Assuming that whole tomatoes are tobe canned, they are placedin hopper 29 and plate 12 is rotated by means of power supplied to shaft 9. As the measuring units come beneath the hop-per,they will be filled with tomatoes and carried around base plate Sin parts and functions are known in the art,

an anti-clockwise direction. Plates 16 will be held against circumferential or axial movement by studs 18 and 19 in slots 1% and 15 but will be reciprocated radially by rollers 20 engaging the cam faces in groove 25*, thus shaking the surplus tomatoes from the tops of the measuring units and allowing them to roll back into the hopper.

As each roller 20 leaves cam track groove 25, it is engaged by a rod 30 which prevents plate 16 from moving inwardly due to the force of gravity. A discharge opening 31 1s formed in bed plate 8 at its highest point, communicating with a chute32' which directs the tomatoes into the can filling funnels and rod 30 is so positioned that the measuringunits are'led directly over this opening so that they may discharge their contents therethrough. Rod 30 terminates at a point just beyond opening 31, thus releasing roller 20 and allowing plates 16 to move inwardly by the force of gravity.

A bracket 33 is secured to the underside of bed plate 8 at its lowest point and carries a vertical post'34: which is threaded through a hand wheel 35. An arm 36 is provided at one end with a suitable aperture so that this end may rest on hand wheel 35 while its other end is rigidly secured to, and supports, hopper 29. This arrangement of parts is provided in order to prevent hopper 29 from rotating and from bearing directly on plates 16. It is also necessary to raise hopper 29 when plate 12 is raised to increase the capacity of the measuring cups.

As handling tomatoes in this manner will cause them to discharge a considerable amount of juice, a juice hopper 37 is secured 'to a flange 38, formed on bed plate 8, and extends substantially halfway around bed plate 8. It is considerably wider at its lowest point than at its upper ends so that its upper edge lies approximately in a horizontal plane. In order that the tomatoes, shaken from the measuring units, by the cam track, will not be abraded by sharp corners and in order that juices will be directed downwardly over the top of plates 16, the lower edge of each plate is offset so that it overlaps the adjacent edge of the adjoining plate, as plainly shown in Figure 4.

Each can, as it enters the machine from a can-feeding attachment 39, is supplied with a measured quantity of juice from a measuring valve d0 which is supplied from hopper 37 by a centrifugal pump 41. The can then moves forwardly under a funnel 42, disposed directly beneath chute 32 and receives a measure of tomatoes. As this part of the machine is not included in this invention and, as its it will not be further described.

I find that a machine, made as above doquantity of tomatoes than any other machine of the same size, that the tomatoes are not bruised or cut, that the cans are evenly filled, and that the machine is easily kept in a sanitary condition.

While I have described my invention as taking a particular form, it will lie-understood that certain modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise construction set forth, but consider that I am at liberty to make such changes and alterations as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is v 1. Ina can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, a conveyor movable above the bed plate, a series of measuring units carried by the conveyor and slidable on the bed plate, a feed hopperdisposed above the conveyor, means for reciprocating the measuring units, and means to actuate the conveyor whereby material may be carried by the measuring units from the hopper to the discharge opening.

2. In a can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, a conveyor movable above the bed plate, a series of measuring units carried by the conveyor and slidable on the bed plate, a feed hopper disposed above the conveyor, means to agitate the n'ieasuring units, means to actuate the conveyor whereby material may be carried by the measuring units fromthe hopper to the discharge opening, ,and a plate having. an upwardly extending flange extending from the hopper around the measuring unit registering with the discharge openingi a 3. In a can filling machine, aninclined bed plate, a conveyor plate rotatable above the bed plate, a. series of measuring units carried by the conveyor plate, a feed hopper disposed above the conveyor plate, means for reciproeating the measuring .cups, and means to retate the conveyor plate.

4. In a can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, a series of measuring cups slidable on the bed plate, a conveyor plate rotatable above the bed plate, a series of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor plate, measuring cups formed on the agitating plates and telescoping with the cups on the bed plate, a hopper above the agitating plates, means to rotate the conveyor plate whereby the measuring cups may carry ma terial from the hopper to the-discharge opening, and means to reciprocate the agitating plates.

5. In a can filling machine; an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening; a series of measuring cups'slidable on the bed plate; a power driven shaft mounted through the bed plate; a hub slidably keyed t0. the shaft; a conveyor plate secured to thehub; a series of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor plate; measuring cups formed on the agitating plates and telescoping with the cupson the bed plate; a hopper above the agitating plates; a hopper base, mounted on the hub, carrying the hopper and extending around the measuring cup aligning with the d1scharge opening; and means to reciprocate the agitating plates.

6. In a can filling machine; an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening; a series of measuring cups slidable on the bed plate; a conveyor plate, having openings therein and slots extending-inward and outward from said openings, rotatable above the bed plate; a series of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor plate; measuring cups, formed on the agitating plates, extending through said openings and telescoping with the cups on the bed plate; studs secured to the agitating plates and slidable in said slots; a hopper above the agitating plates; means to rotate the conveyor plate whereby the measuring cups may carry material from the hopper to t the discharge opening, and means to reciprocate the agitating plates.

7. In a can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, a conveyor movable above the bed plate, a series of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor, a cam track on the bed plate, a stud on each agitating plate adapted to engage the cam faces on the cam track, measuring cups carried by the agitating plates, a hopper disposed above the agitating plates, and means to actuate the conveyor whereby the measuring cups may carry material from the hopper to the discharge opening and be agitated en route. I

8. In a can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, a conveyor movable above the bed plate, aseries of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor, a cam track on the bed plate, a guide extending from the cam track to the discharge opening, a stud on each agitating plate adapted to engage the cam faces on the cam track, measuring cups carried by the agitating plates, a hopper disposed above the agitating plates, and means to actuate the conveyor whereby the measuring cups may carry material from the hopper to the discharge opening and be agitated en route. 7

9. In a can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, a series 7 of measuring cups slidable on the bed plate, a

conveyormovable above the bed plate, a series of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor, a cam track on the bed plate, a stud on each agitating plate adapted to engage the cam faces on the cam track, measuring cups carried by the agitating plates and telescoping with the cups on the bed plate, a hopper disposed above the agitating plates, means to raise and lower the conveyor and hopper, and means to actuate the conveyor whereby the measuring cups may carry material from the hopper to the discharge opening and be agitated en route.

10. In a can filling machine; an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening; a series of measuring cups slidable on the bed plate; a power driven shaft mounted through the bed plate; a hub slida-bly keyed to the shaft; a conveyor plate secured to the hub; a series of agitating plates slidable on the conveyor plat-e; measuring cups formed on the agitating plates and telescoping wit-h the cups on the bed plate; a hopper above the agitating plates; a hopper base, mounted on the hub, carrying the hopper and extending around the measuring cup aligning with the discharge opening; a cam track on the bed plate; and a roller mounted on each agitating plate and engaging the faces on the cam track.

11. In a can filling machine, an inclined bed plate having a discharge opening, an inclined conveyor plate rotatable above the bed plate, a series of measuring cups carried by the conveyor plate, a feed hopper disposed above the conveyor plate, means to rotate the conveyor plate whereby the measuring units may carry material from the feed hopper to the discharge opening, and means for guiding surplus material, which may fall from the filled cups, back into the hopper.

12. In a can filling machine, an inclined bedplate having a discharge opening, a series of measuring cups slidable on the bed plate, an inclined conveyor plate rotatable above the bed plate, a series of measuring cups carried by the conveyor plate and telescoping with the cups on the bed plate, a feed hopper disposed above the conveyor plate and having an upwardly inclined extension with an open end, means to rotate the conveyor plate whereby the measuring units may carry material from the feed hopper to the discharge opening, and a flange, carried by the hopper plate, extending around the path of travel of the filled cups and above the tops of the cups and embracing the end walls of the hopper extension.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES H. AYARS. 

